One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,“ said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.” Alice in Wonderland

If you are so inclined and go online to look up New Year’s Resolutions you will find a plethora of articles, from listing the top twenty most common resolutions and the number of people who will fail to keep them by the end of Jan to the health hazards associated with taking your ‘get fit’ resolution too seriously.

One thing is for sure, if you have something that you want to achieve, there is nothing wrong with starting this January along with everyone else making commitments for change. Some people don’t want the attention often associated with making the big changes that they want or need to make and if they can begin inconspicuously during Jan when it’s the ‘norm’ to give up or start something new, there is less attention given to their endeavours (initially anyway) and that might just be the critical month they need to gain momentum. For others January is a good line-in-the-sand for them to begin a fresh.

Whatever your motivation, what has become clear from all the articles I’ve seen is that it’s not just about deciding to do something in 2015 but the how: How to lose a stone in 30 days, how to wean yourself off facebook, etc. I would suggest however that even before the how, you need to be clear about the what. Because if you’re clear about the what then you’ll be clear as to whether a jog twice a week will achieve the goal in a month or more drastic action is required! Also, the more measurable your goal, the easier it will be to know you have succeeded and what you’re working towards so, if your resolution this year is to find a better job, what is better? If your resolution is to be less stressed, how will you measure this? If you’re goal this year is to lose weight, how much exactly do you want to lose? And by when in 2015 do you want to have achieved it – is this a 12 month project or would you like to achieve your goal within three months and maintain it for the remaining nine months of the year?

Now we come to commitment – because apparently typically 1 in 3 of us will give up on achieving our resolution before the end of January. So how committed are you to your new year’s resolution? Is it realistic or is there a more realistic resolution that you would be more motivated to achieve?

If you have or are in the process of setting yourself some new year’s resolutions, here are some questions you might want to ask yourself to improve your odds of succeeding in 2015:

What is your New Year’s Resolution?

What do you want to achieve as a result of your new year’s resolution?

How will you know you have achieved it?

When do you want to have achieved it by?

How will you feel when you have achieved this resolution?

What would be the impact on you if you were not to achieve this resolution?

What could stop you from achieving your resolution?

How will you overcome this obstacle?

Who could help you achieve your resolution?

What is the first thing you will do and when will you do it?

How motivated are you to achieve this resolution? Out of ten?

If your answer is below an 8, what needs to happen for you to be more motivated?